Insurance Sector In India

The insurance sector of India is a very booming one due to the increase in the number of industrial establishments and also due due to the rise in population. India consists of 53 insurance companies of which 24 deal with life insurance business and 29 with non-life insurers.

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Definition / Scope

The insurance Sector In India can be termed generally as the sector which is responsible and deals with the protection of financial loss in various commercial and medical sectors . It is a form of risk management which is primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss.

An insurer, or insurance carrier, usually sells the insurance. The insured, or policyholder, is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The amount of money to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage is called the premium. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a individually separate and distinct field of study and practice.

The transaction involves the insured assuming a guaranteed and known relatively small loss in the form of payment to the insurer in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate (indemnity) the insured in the case of a financial (personal) loss. The insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be financially compensated.

Market Overview

The insurance sector of India is a very booming one due to the increase in the number of industrial establishments and also due due to the rise in population. India consists of 53 insurance companies of which 24 deal with life insurance business and 29 with non-life insurers.

Among the life insurers, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is the sole public sector company as well as the most famous insurance company in India. Apart from that, among the non-life insurers there are six public sector insurers.

In addition to these, there is sole national re-insurer, namely, General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re). Other stakeholders in Indian Insurance market include agents (individual and corporate), brokers, surveyors and third party administrators servicing health insurance claims.

Out of the 29 non-life insurance companies, five private sector insurers are registered to underwrite policies exclusively in health, personal accident and travel insurance segments. They are :-

Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd

Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company Ltd,

Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd,

Religare Health Insurance Company Ltd

Cigna TTK Health Insurance Company Ltd.

There are two more specialised insurers belonging to public sector, namely, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India for Credit Insurance and Agriculture Insurance Company Ltd for crop insurance.